Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: Since conflict erupted in Sudan on 15 April, we have pursued all diplomatic avenues to end the violence, de-escalate tensions and secure humanitarian access. This includes at the UN Security Council and Human Rights Council, and through cooperation with counterparts from African, Quad (Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, UK, US) and European countries. We welcome the 7-day ceasefire agreement...
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: The humanitarian crisis in Sudan has worsened dramatically, with the UN estimating that almost 25 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance; a 57 percent increase compared to the estimated needs before the outbreak of hostilities on 15 April. We welcome the 7-day ceasefire agreement, signed by the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces on 20 May, following the 11 May...
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: In April 2023, the UK led the mandate renewal for the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan (CHRSS) at the UN Human Rights Council. The Commission reported that journalists in South Sudan experience severe harassment, including arbitrary detention and death threats, with some going into hiding or fleeing the country. In South Sudan, the UK consistently raises the importance of media...
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: There has been an escalation of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) against women and girls in Sudan since 15 April. These crimes take place in a broader context human rights violations since the military coup on 25 October 2021, with a further escalation in incidents since 15 April. The UK has consistently condemned these in our public statements, at the UN Human Rights Council and...
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: The UK Government has not made a specific assessment of the recommendations made in 2021. However, the Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, in his previous role as Minister for the Middle East and North Africa, addressed the meeting in the following speech: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/minister-cleverly-int ervention-at-global-compact-on-refugees-high-level-officials -meeting Min MENA...
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: Foreign travel is a vital part of diplomacy. The work that ministers do overseas ultimately delivers for the British people. We have three government planes for Government business. They are used by Government Ministers for precisely this purpose. This is standard practice and in the national interest. In accordance with the Ministerial Code, the FCDO publishes the costs related to all...
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: During his visit to Colombia, the Foreign Secretary met with President Petro and Foreign Minister Álvaro Leyva to discuss our ongoing support to the implementation of the 2016 Peace Agreement in Colombia. The Foreign Secretary committed £3.6 million from the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) in 2023/24 to support the implementation of the Peace Agreement and improve stability and...
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: The UK is a global leader in supporting work towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal 3.3 to end the epidemic of malaria by 2030. The UK recently pledged £1 billion for the seventh replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria which accounts for 63 per cent of all international funding for malaria programmes. We also continue to play a leading role in...
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: The UK is a world leader in the life sciences, and British science is at the cutting edge of fighting malaria. We will continue to play a world-leading role in research and innovations to combat this disease. This includes support to the Liverpool-based Innovative Vector Control Consortium to develop novel bed-nets and to Oxford University to develop a new generation of antimalarial medicines...
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: Since this conflict erupted in April, we have pursued all diplomatic avenues to end the violence, de-escalate tensions and secure humanitarian access. The Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary, Defence Secretary and Minister for Development and Africa have been in regular touch with international partners to support efforts to sustain a ceasefire. We are also monitoring and addressing the...
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: We have noted the report issued by Genocide Watch on the risk of genocide occurring in Sudan. We have consistently denounced all human rights violations that have taken place since the escalation in incidents since 15 April; the continuing violence and killing of civilians must end. We will continue to support the work of the ICC Prosecutor in his important work to investigate crimes in...
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: In 2022 the collective efforts of humanitarian partners and donors, including the UK, averted famine in Somalia. Despite the reduced famine risk, humanitarian needs remain extraordinary. The UK is committed to addressing the acute food security and malnutrition situation. Last financial year we committed over £61million to support the drought response in Somalia. We regularly engage at all...
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: The UK's priority is to secure workable humanitarian access, including operational security assurances for humanitarian agencies and ensuring communities can have safe access to working basic services. There can be no aid without access. We will work closely with the UN, our partners and the international humanitarian system so they can move quickly to scale-up delivery within Sudan when the...
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: Comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) is central to achieving FCDO commitments in the International Development Strategy, our approach to end the preventable deaths of mothers, new-borns and children by 2030 and the International Women and Girls Strategy. The FCDO ensures the aid budget is directed towards our priorities, delivers value for the taxpayer and meets the...
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: The UK is proud to defend and promote universal and comprehensive sexual and reproductive rights (SRHR). We are committed to working with our partners to drive progress and demonstrate leadership on SRHR on the global stage and in our programmes. This includes the recent announcement that up to £200 million will be delivered towards the Women's Integrated Sexual Health (WISH) Dividend...
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: We are working with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and other relevant humanitarian and development agencies on our preparations for the Global Refugee Forum. As we develop the UK's pledges for the Forum, we will look to match these with host countries, donors, and other relevant partners, wherever possible.
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: We have bilateral education programmes in 19 countries. FCDO projects work closely with governments where state provision is weak, using UK-led research on what works to influence policy on how to reach the most marginalised, particularly girls. The Girls' Education Challenge programme has supported over 1.5 million children to receive education since 2012. We are the largest donor to the...
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: The 2022 Independent Commission for Aid Impact report recommended FCDO accelerate work with partner governments to improve its ability to collect and use reliable data on children's learning. As a result, we developed a new Data for Foundational Learning programme, of up to £27 million (2023 - 2027), to strengthen the data on children's learning in low- and middle-income countries. This...
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: We are saddened by the loss of life in Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda which was caused by the devastating floods and landslides. The NGO consortium START, which the UK part funds, has committed £300k to the Rwanda flood response which will be implemented by Trócaire. START have also given £400k to the DRC flood response, to provide those who have lost their homes and livelihoods...
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: The FCDO Official Development Assistance (ODA) funded scholarships, Chevening and the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission (CSC), both accept applications from refugees in eligible countries. Neither scheme awards scholarships to any applicants, including refugees, already based in the UK. Chevening does not retain information on refugee status of its scholars after the application process....